


Dawn

by WindwiseWords



Series: Xenogen City [14]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Belly Rubs, Coding Instincts, Cravings, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic, Dominance, Fluff, Grocery Shopping, Instinctual, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Mech Preg, Nervousness, Poor Tailgate, Pregnancy, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 03:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8355946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindwiseWords/pseuds/WindwiseWords
Summary: Cyclonus goes shopping after his night shift for goodies for Tailgate. Not the domestic type, he has some trouble but his little white minibot always makes it worth the pain.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I dunno where to draw the lines with slice-of-life and domestic but whereas most of my pieces are snapshots of lives, this is more just a domestic scene between the two. I think we all figured out my favorite pairing. Some of you guys are responsible for that, writing your Cygate and getting the newb in the community addicted. You know who you are.

Many mechs, despite the number of other Decepticons living in Xenogen, still singled him out. Cyclonus deadpanned and listened to some wiry little punk berate him for a while before grabbing his face and throwing him into a shelf of metal sheeting. Nobody really paid it any mind; another day in Xenogen.

Cyclonus just got off the nightshift, he was tired, and he still had a list two of his own hand-lengths long of things Tailgate insisted on stocking up on before this storm hit. Normally he would bark at him to get them himself, but he relented this one time, and only because Tailgate almost fell over just walking to the washracks last night.

Swerve and Rewind agreed to help him and check up on Tailgate throughout the evening. They were good friends, and though he’d never say it aloud, Cyclonus couldn’t imagine a day going by where they didn’t run into each other on shift or in the bar. Never would they be friends, but they could look out for each other.

Approaching the ‘Mineral Powders, Metal Salts, Spices’ aisle, Cyclonus began to put various containers of metal salts and minerals into his basket. Humans had a decent design for general goods stores, so the constructicons copied the design with size in mind. The only bot that couldn’t fit in easily was Fort Max, and Rung did most of his shopping for him anyways.

Going down the list Tailgate thoughtfully organized by aisle, he paused as cinnamon came up on the list. Squinting to read the scrawled glyphs correctly, he sighed and growled softly, making a trine of flyers rattle their wings defensively. He raised a brow and they stopped when they realized he wasn’t growling at them.

He knelt down and began to look among the tiny jars and bottles for the brown powder, found it, and tossed that in the cart too. From there the list became normal again, and Tailgate left a reminder that the last time they got the humans’ brand of aluminum sheeting Cyclonus purged his tank. There were too many impurities, so from then on Tailgate only got the foil forged in Xenogen.

Only Cyclonus didn’t know where the foil was. He squinted up at the signs and curled a lip plate. Did this fall under ‘Full Elemental Metals’ or ‘Molecular Element Plating’? He glanced back at the list and decided to try the first aisle.

To his luck that indeed meant literally foils and sheets, and he found the box that looked like the one their roll of aluminum came in. Then he went to grab copper sheets, the same thinness as a foil. He preferred the thicker kind but Tailgate couldn’t chew it easily. Somewhere in the aisle there had to be titanium, and eventually a former ‘con came up to glance at the list. Cyclonus said nothing and just looked up tiredly.

This mech was just about his height, a grounder with an odd dampener of some kind over his chest. Gamma Ray, a bot that once took on Tidalwave and took the big bot down in a single swing of a mace. He never told his secret but the dampener had something to do with it. 

Around his feet two very small Vosnian seekers warily stared up at Cyclonus. The pair were pets of Megatron once. Cyclonus felt his eyes soften in empathy and sympathy toward them. Megatron had a type, and those two got it worse than Cyclonus.

“I think they put the titanium over on the far wall because it’s so popular.” The grounder murmured, starting to walk off toward the shelves. Sure enough, there it was. Gamma Ray looked through the two competing types, and selected a containers of pellets for himself before nodding politely and leading the two seekers off.

Cyclonus mutter a thanks and picked out what the bot had, figuring it didn’t matter because Tailgate refused to eat the stuff and Cyclonus never had problems with it. Another odd request popped up on the list: Marshmallows. Cyclonus cursed and marched off to the sweets department, the only place in this Primus forsaken maze of a store he knew. And only because Tailgate liked sweets. As he picked out some other treats just because, he found the small organic candy sections. Some bots could stomach small amounts of organic treats, or treats that were mostly sugar. Marshmallows were one of those treats. He grabbed two bags, taking a moment to squish one fluffy treat through the plastic, and then headed for the check out.

Upon reaching the checkout, he stood in line and glanced up ahead of him. He froze a bit, seeing Optimus Prime of all bots standing there with a massive container of copper foil ribbons. Optimus, who knew what staring felt like even from the back of his head, glanced back and smiled warmly.

“Hello Cyclonus.” That voice made him take a pace back, still nervous around the grand leader that slay the mighty lord Megatron. “How is your sparkbond? I’m actually here to pick these up for Skyfire and Starscream. They’ve been holed up in their lab for four days… Has Starscream mentioned anything to you why?”

“…No.” Cyclonus finally got out. “Tailgate is fine.” And despite his curt tone Prime nodded with the same gentle smile.

“I see you got some rather odd things. Cravings. Ratchet warned me to add a few pounds of less common elements to the list. You be sure to contact me or Titan if you need something for Tailgate.” Prime set the container down and the minibot at the register rung it up. Cyclonus was surprised when he paid just like any other bot and waved a bit before walking off.

Cyclonus set the basket down and thought on that before Tailgate pinged his com, asking when he would be back. Cyclonus replied he was paying now, and left the store. He walked over to one of the many small runways placed around the city, used as much as ramps for grounders to have some fun as for flyers to get a safe start off the ground.

 

When he landed on the balcony, Tailgate was sitting out there with Rewind and Chromedome. Both waved and stood up as Cyclonus came in to land, Rewind helping Tailgate up to his feet. The little white bot’s blue visor lit up brightly, and Cyclonus felt his spark flutter softly. He always felt welcomed every time he came home.

“Hello Cyclonus.” Chromedome nodded politely, and Rewind waved happily before leading Tailgate over with such care, Cyclonus thought the thin minibot would end up trying to carry his gravid friend.

“Hello, Chromedome.” He paused, sensing Tailgate’s stare on him, urging him to try to make nice, make a friend. He didn’t want to; he did anyways. “Have you both prepared for the oncoming storm?”

“Yes. I worry about you both up in the Nest though. If you need somewhere to come, our door is open. Just com me and I will come help you move supplies.” Chromedome tilted his head, his version of a smile or polite grin. A bot of science, and a very kind and weary bot of war.

“I…Appreciate the offer, but I feel safest where I can fly away.” Cyclonus knelt down and carefully embraced Tailgate, nuzzling the side his helm despite the others being there.

“Missed you too,” Tailgate whispered, pressing his face mask to the side of Cyclonus’ not-cheeks to ‘kiss’ him.

“Well, I would invite you both over for breakfast but I can see you are just back from shift. The offer stands but…” Cyclonus shook his head at the offer and Chromedome nodded.

“Aww! Some other time then.” Rewind dared to get close to the snuggly pair and gave Tailgate a quick hug before gently patting his friend’s middle. “You don’t give your creators too much trouble.” Tailgate giggled, but Cyclonus glared a bit and sheltered his mate closer.

“Easy, Rewind. Seekers are very protective of their mates.” Chromedome picked up his partner and nuzzled him. “Have a good day, Cyclonus, Tailgate.” And the pair turned to go inside to leave through the door.

Cyclonus carefully picked Tailgate up in his free arm. “Did you have a good shift?” Tailgate smiled and nuzzled his chest, holding on as they went inside.

The purple seeker smiled a bit and settled his mate on the recliner. “It was uneventful. Today was last my shift before the storm.” He paused. “I ran into Optimus Prime at the store.”

Tailgate seemed overjoyed to hear about the simple day and sighed, laying back in the chair. Cyclonus looked through the treats he got and selected the marshmallows. Bringing them over, he easily tore the bag open and offered one to Tailgate.

“Oh! You remembered!” Tailgate took the treat and retracted his mask, nibbling on it and wiggling in the chair happily. “Oh that is so much better.”

Cyclonus grunted and moved to put things away, leaving the marshmallows with Tailgate. Probably a poor decision, but if his mate wanted to eat the entire bag he wouldn’t have the spark to stop him.

Cyclonus came back to a sticky-faced Tailgate licking bits of marshmallow off his thumb. A soft rumble of a laugh left the broad chest and he came over to pick Tailgate up.

Carefully Cyclonus leaned in to lick the bit of marshmallow off, pausing to nip a bit at his lip. Tailgate whimpered and wriggled in his arms. Resting them both on the couch, Cyclonus felt a smaller glossa brush over his lip. He allowed it in, and the two had a short battle for dominance over the kiss. Cyclonus growled and took the reins over the situation, carefully laying Tailgate back into the couch and arching over him.

Tailgate squeaked and gently pushed at his chest. “Cyclonus…”

Cyclonus froze and quickly helped him sit up. “Tailgate I—“

“It’s okay. You didn’t hurt me. Oof.” He grunted and rubbed his sides. Cyclonus shifted him into his lap and rubbed Tailgate’s distended plating with a worried stare. “Oh, stop that.” Tailgate pushed at his chin gently. “The bitlet’s just been active today. I got kicked is all.”

Cyclonus thought for a moment and picked up the data pad to look through Tailgate’s last self-scan. He recorded each one, just to keep Cyclonus sane enough to continue his surveillance work. It looked good, exactly in the parameters Ratchet said to expect. He glanced back to Tailgate hearing a soft coo, and nuzzled up to his mate’s cheek.

Tailgate was rubbing his middle, or as much as he could get his arms around. “Have you thought of names?”

“We would have to know if he is a grounder or a seeker. But yes I have thought of names.” Cyclonus admitted, secretly hoping it was a seeker with Tailgate’s beautiful colors. “Have you been able to talk with him?”

Tailgate looked confused for a moment before making a soft ‘oh’ and shaking his head. “I think that starts later. Around three-fourths of the way. It just… _Looks_ like I should be able to by now.”

Cyclonus felt the pang of worry over the size of the bitlet again but calmed himself with every single medical personal’s words. Even Prowl called him into his office to offer advice. Prowl never had his own sparkling, but did raise one and knew of them. Cyclonus hung on every word.

“I honestly hoped it would have been me that carried.” There was a flash of hurt in Tailgate’s visor and he protectively curled his hands around his growing curves. Cyclonus sighed; ever sensitive Tailgate misunderstood. Again. “I meant so that you wouldn’t have to suffer through this. It would have been easier on me.”

Tailgate nuzzled up to him as apology for misunderstanding, and thought for a moment before giggling. “I don’t think you would do very well trapped in the apartment. Ever since you were able to fly freely, you’ve been much happier.”

Sensitive could be a good thing; Tailgate always noticed his mood shifts. At least when they were important. “Hmn.” Cyclonus agreed, resting his arms around Tailgate to support his belly better. There was a relieved sigh as just a bit of weight rested on Cyclonus rather than his struts and plating.

“I think it will be a seeker.” Tailgate declared. “Ever since he’s gotten big enough to move all I want to do is sit out under the sky.” Cyclonus smiled a bit and shifted his mate back into his arms, walking out to the balcony and sitting on the ground.

The pair sat in silence, watching clouds go by. It was a peaceful morning and as the sun fully rose over the horizon, a cloud made of seekers and carriers alike took off for a morning romp in the sky. Cyclonus would usually join them, but today Tailgate called him more than the sky. He wrapped his arms close around his mate and the two just enjoyed the silent moment of peace, content with each other’s presence.


End file.
